Democracy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Democracy: October 2nd, 2012
- Judge halts parts of Pennsylvania voter ID law
- Ordinary Lies, Damn Lies and the Debates
- Romney Campaign Expands Focus Beyond Economy
- Senate Leaders at Work on Plan to Avoid ‘Fiscal Cliff’
- Health Care Case Seen Helping Law but Hurting Court
More top news and analysis:
VOTER RIGHTS: Judge halts parts of Pennsylvania voter ID law – WP
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday halted part of the commonwealth’s restrictive voter ID law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said he did not believe the law as written could go into effect for the November election without disenfranchising some voters.
DEBATES/TRUTH: Ordinary Lies, Damn Lies and the Debates - NYT, OPINION
ADAM CLYMER: President Obama and Mitt Romney will be tempted to use the themes that their pollsters have found effective, whether they are true or false.
DEBATES/ROMNEY POSITIONS: The Opening Statement - NYT, OP-ED
DAVID BROOKS: Here is what Mitt Romney should say at the first debate this week.
DEBATES: The Problem With Televised Debates: The Viewers - TIME, OPINION
ERIC LIU: Most of us have forgotten how to engage in the underlying political issues of our day
DEBATES/OBAMA STYLE: President’s ‘No Drama’ Style Is a Debate Asset – WSJ, OPINION
Gerald F. Seib.: The famous description of the president’s personal style—that he is no-drama-Obama—precisely fits the candidate who comes through on a debate stage.
DEBATES/MODERATORS: Playing Roles of Referee and, Increasingly, Target During Debates – NYT
The role of a presidential debate moderator, a task that once stood as a crowning and coveted journalistic achievement, is now subject to partisan rancor.
DEBATES/HISTORY: Presidential Debate Moments – NYT
Some of the most memorable presidential debate moments of the televised era.
*MUCH MORE DEBATES 2012 NEWS & ANALYSIS BELOW
ELECTIONS 2012: Romney Campaign Expands Focus Beyond the Economy – NYT
With Mitt Romney’s economic arguments faltering, his team plans to refocus its criticisms on energy, health care, taxes, spending and foreign affairs policies.
ELECTIONS 2012: Odds Improve for GOP Takeover of Congress in 2012 - WSJ
Odds are improving that the Democratic Party will lose control of the U.S. Senate and the Republicans will retain the House of Representatives.
ELECTIONS 2012/POLLS: Polls Show Voters Split Along Gender Lines – PBS NEWSHOUR
New national polls find President Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a close race with support for the two candidates divided sharply along gender lines. The president leads, 49% to 45%, among likely voters (Poll), buoyed by an 18-point advantage among women. Romney has a 10-point lead among men.
ELECTIONS 2012/INCUMBANCY: Obama against the odds – WP, OPINION
George Will: Why are voters so reluctant to change?
ELECTIONS 2012/CEO: The Case Against a CEO in the Oval Office – WSJ
Alan Blinder: Why do many business people fail in government? Because there’s no bottom line—and compromise is obligatory.
*Alan Blinder will be a guest of The Common Good at a date to be announced.
OBAMA/QUOTES: 10 quotes that haunt Obama – POLITICO
The quotations are an anthology of lofty aspirations that fell to earth.
*MORE ELECTIONS 2012 NEWS & ANALYSIS BELOW
FISCAL CLIFF: Senate Leaders at Work on Plan to Avoid ‘Fiscal Cliff’ – NYT
JONATHAN WEISMAN: A bipartisan group is coalescing around a process to avert a series of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts facing the country in January.
SUPREME COURT: Health Care Case Is Seen as Helping Law but Hurting Court - NYT
By ADAM LIPTAK: The Supreme Court bolstered public support for President Obama’s health care law while hurting its own reputation.
SUPREME COURT: Justices Begin Term by Hearing Case Again - NYT
By ADAM LIPTAK: The Supreme Court opened its new term by hearing arguments in an important human rights case it first considered in February.
SUPREME COURT: Bible Verses on Football Signs Inspire Conflict - WSJ
The varsity cheerleaders at Kountze High School in East Texas brandished the large paper banners at football games before a legal fight erupted.
SUPREME COURT: Justices Probe ‘Alien Tort’ Law - WSJ
Several Supreme Court justices suggested they were ready to limit the use of the Alien Tort Claims Act, which activists have relied on for decades to hold human-rights offenders accountable.
GAY MARRIAGE: Voting on Gay Marriage – NEW YORKER, OPINION
Jeffrey Toobin: Can same-sex marriage win in the states and at the Supreme Court?
DEFICIT LEGISLATION: Cut deficit, but not on backs of needy – POLITICO, OPINION
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: We must address the deficit in a way that is fair, the author writes.
VOTERS/SOUTH: The South’s Enduring Conservativism - NYT, ROOM FOR DEBATE
Why does the Deep South remain so much more conservative than the rest of the country?
VOTERS: California Latest Stage for Election Battle Over Unions - NYT
ADAM NAGOURNEY: Labor leaders see a ballot measure that would bar their political contributions as the biggest threat they have faced in this year of challenges to their power.
LOCAL RACES: Brown, Warren Spar in Mass. Debate – WSJ
Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren traded jabs over each other’s character in the second debate of a Massachusetts race that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate.
LOCAL RACES: Six things to take away from the Senate debate in Massachusetts – WP, OPINION
Sean Sullivan: Brown’s line that he is “not a student” in Warren’s classroom might cut against his nice-guy image, but will likely be the most talked about line.
LOCAL RACES: GOP group puts money on Arkansas - WP
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, has pledged to spend nearly $1 million on legislative races in Arkansas.
ADVERTISING: Crossroads Kicks Off Anti-Obama Ad Blitz - WSJ
Crossroads and the Republican National Committee roll out new ads, plus other top political stories, analysis and opinion pieces.
ADVERTISING: At a Romney Home, the View From the Curb - NYT
A new web video takes a slap at Mitt Romney and his “47 percent remarks” by showing a sanitation worker whose route, it says, includes Mr. Romney’s oceanfront home in La Jolla, Calif.
ADVERTISING: Flooding the Dance Floor With Political Pitches - NYT
The ABC competition show “Dancing With the Stars” is a favorite among political media buyers as they seek out certain constituencies.
HEALTHCARE: Doctor Visits Dropping, New Census Figures Show – NYT
SABRINA TAVERNISE: Working-age Americans are seeing the doctor less, but how much this has to do with the economy and how much with changing demographics is unclear.
HEALTHCARE: Many states not prepared for health-care law - WP
Three dozen states are not willing or ready to set up insurance exchanges called for by the law.
MEDICAID: Administration Advises States to Expand Medicaid or Risk Losing Federal Money - NYT
ROBERT PEAR: The White House put pressure on states to expand Medicaid but officials also said the states could reverse their decision at any time.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: 2004 RNC Arrests Unconstitutional – WSJ
A federal court judge ruled that hundreds of protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention were arrested without probable cause and that other New York Police Department tactics employed then were illegal.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: Hey, @SeattlePD: What’s the Latest? - NYT
The Seattle Police Department has begun 51 hyper-local Twitter accounts to provide crime reports.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: Border Patrol Agent Killed in Arizona – WSJ
A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and another wounded in a shooting near the Mexican border in Arizona, the Department of Homeland Security said.
MEDIA/MEMORIUM: How Punch Protected the Times – NYT
JOE NOCERA: The special structure of Times Company stock has kept the newspaper in the Sulzberger family.
MEDIA/MEMORIUM:Arthur Ochs Sulzberger - WP, EDITORIAL
The firm hand at the helm of the Times.
ENVIRONMENT: Scientist, Candidate and Planet Earth’s Lifeguard - NYT
DANIEL LEWIS: Dr. Commoner, a biologist, was a leader among a generation of scientist-activists who recognized the toxic consequences of America’s technology boom.
HEALTH: Get Healthy: 31 Amazing Foods Backed by Science - TIME
The food guide to end all food guides: here are the healthy foods you should be eating now.
HEALTH: Study Finds HPV Vaccine Gardasil Safe - WSJ
A new study of the cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil found it was associated with fainting and skin infections, but not to more serious health problems.
HEALTH/AUTISM: Report Sees Less Impact in New Autism Definition - NYT
New research may soothe the anxieties of parents worried about proposed changes to the official diagnosis of autism.
SOCIETY/COMMUNICATION: Why We Are So Rude Online – WSJ
Soon-to-be-published research links online browsing to lower self control, higher debt and weight.
WEATHER: Experts See Signs of El Niño, but a Weak One - NYT
A season of warmer ocean waters that has been expected to produce a Niño episode and perhaps bring relief from the drought may turn out to be a bit weaker than advertised.
WEATHER: Helping coastal communities plan for ahead - WP
When coastal communities need to plan for the future, they can turn to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and Nicholas Schmidt.
GENIUS GRANTS: Foundation Names Its ‘Geniuses’ – WSJ
This year’s recipients of $500,000 MacArthur grants include a mandolin player, a marine ecologist and a filmmaker.
SPORT: Texas Fishing Contests Lure Competitors and Fraud – NYT
With competitions offering up to $500,000 in prizes, allegations of cheating are routine in multiple states as some catch fish in advance or artificially boost their weight.
MORE DEBATES 2012 NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
ROMNEY: Romney wants ‘conversation’ with nation – FT
Challenger seeking poll boost through TV debates
DEBATES: Romney Grasps for a Closing Argument as Debates Loom – TIME, OPINION
ALEX ALTMAN: At a do-or-die juncture for Romney, the campaign still can’t decide which frame it prefers.
Mitt struggles to sharpen message – POLITICS
Alexander Burns: He’s been bouncing from topic du jour to another.
OBAMA: A presidential demeanour still counts - FT
Even in an age of instant opinion, a zinger may turn a televised debate
ROMNEY: Romney must prove he is no John Kerry – FT, OPINION
Stanley B. Greenberg: The Republican should lay out bold policies in this week’s debate
DEBATES: Trembling Before Mitt - NYT
FRANK BRUNI: In advance of the first presidential debate, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney try on the unfamiliar garb of exaggerated humility.
DEBATES/ENERGY: Look for Duel on Energy in Debates - WSJ
How to develop America’s energy potential stands at the center of both the Obama and Romney campaigns, and the question of which candidate can do it better is likely to come up during the presidential debates.
DEBATES: The Debatable Benefits of Campaign Debates – WSJ
By Joseph Epstein: The Romney-Obama meeting is unlikely to reveal traits that matter much in a president.
ROMNEY: Romney vs. Romney - WP
Eugene Robinson: Which Mitt will show up to the first debate?
ROMNEY: In Denver speech, Romney previews debate stance - WP
“We’re not seeing the real recovery,” Romney tells 5,500 supporters at an aircraft museum.
ROMNEY: Romney forced to play defense - WP
Michael Gerson: As the first debate looms, missteps stop him from attacking Obama.
MORE ELECTION 2012 NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
MITT ROMNEY: The Mitt Romney Who Might Have Been – NYT, OPINION
ROBERT DRAPER: What Mitt Romney’s choices as governor of Massachusetts say about the man who wants to be president.
OBAMACARE: The Flaws That Will Bring Down Obama’s Health-Care Plan – BLOOMBERG, OPINION
Ramesh Ponnuru: The debate over President Barack Obama’s health-care law has taken another twist. Now conservatives and libertarians are defending it, while the administration tries to toss part of the legislation out.
TAX POLICY: Mr. Romney’s Government Handout – NYT, EDITORIAL
Mitt Romney has proposed making the dysfunctional tax loophole system, which provides benefits only for the very rich, even more unfair.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE: A Legal Circle Reaches Deep to Aid Obama - NYT
ERIC LIPTON: Attorneys who represent whistle-blowers have made millions as the Obama administration cracks down on corporate fraud, and are now donating heavily to the president’s re-election campaign.
FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE: The Foreign Policy Divide – NYT
ROGER COHEN: Like Vladimir Putin, Mitt Romney favors the status quo — of 30 years ago.
ROMNEY WEALTH: Offshore Tactics Helped Increase Romneys’ Wealth – NYT
Offshore arrangements made through Mitt Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, were part of tax-avoidance strategies that have enhanced his income.
ROMNEY TAXES: What We Still Don’t Know About Mitt Romney’s Taxes – ProPublica
Romney released his 2011 tax return and other information recently. So what else is there to know?
The Common Good publishes a U.S. domestic news digest every weekday, available here.
